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United States Patent | 5,651,176 |
Ma ,   et al. | July 29, 1997 |
A circuit board fabrication apparatus and method having a vibratory feeder tray is disclosed. The feeder tray is preferably of low mass and horizontally-disposed and has multiple grooves which closely fit electronic parts, and hollowed-out bottom portions, generally below the rails separating the grooves. The hollow portions significantly contribute to low mass. Almost 50% of the mass of the tray's top plate may be removed. The parts are picked up one at a time and placed at precise positions on circuit board substrates by the rotating nozzles of a pick-and-place turret. An electromagnetic coil operating below the grooves of the feeder tray smoothly and continuously advances the parts in the grooves to the region in which they are picked up by the nozzles. Additionally, a slider table supporting the vibratory feeder tray positions each groove of the feeder tray in turn at the uptake point of the turret. The feeder tray may be easily reloaded with parts while it is vibrating, thereby permitting the fabrication apparatus to run continuously for long periods. The vibratory feeder tray allows for quick delivery of the parts in a consistent orientation and, together with the slider table positioning capability and the action of the rotating turret, allows for high volume manufacture of circuit boards.
Inventors: | Ma; Abraham C. (San Jose, CA); Schiesser; Hans (Fremont, CA); Hsueh; Paul Y. J. (Concord, CA) |
Assignee: | MA Laboratories, Inc. (San Jose, CA) |
Appl. No.: | 496981 |
Filed: | June 30, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: | 29/740; 29/759; 29/821; 29/823; 198/763 |
Intern'l Class: | H05K 003/34 |
Field of Search: | 29/739,740,741,743,759,821,DIG. 46,823,335 198/763,766,769 414/737,224 |
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Foreign Patent Documents | |||
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